Starlit Sky 9: Map of the Worlds
by warriorfreak
Summary: Sequel to Last One Over. Skye seeks out life beyond his little cave and finds his father. But a new world is intruding upon Eris...seemingly identical, but is it bad or good? And why do its inhabitants seemed so afraid of something? Rewritten!
1. Chapter 1: The Shining Swords

**Hello everyone! This is a redo of Map of the Worlds, because I hated Map of the Worlds, A Well Trodden Path, and Small Expectations. I'm rewriting all three of those books, ok? YAY! I'm so happy, I really, really hated writing Small Expectations. It was torture, trying to force the words through my fingers. I wanted to feel free and easy like I did writing Demon's Jealousy, Last One Over, and all the books before those. PLEASE REVIEW!**

_**Chapter 1, The Shining Swords**_

He had lived there for as long as he could remember. He had made everything his home, and had familiarized himself with everything.

His name was Skye. He had been abandoned at birth, left to die in a little cave drilled into the side of a huge canyon wall. He dreaded even the summer, because even then it would be snowy, cold, and windy, like it always was. He had a coat like a snow leopards, thick and dark silver, with black rings on his back and tail.

Skye sat in front of his cave, staring down at the freezing stream that ran along the bottom of the canyon. That was where he got his water, though he dreaded touching the stream for its coldness.

He stood up and walked along the edge of the stream, searching out for the one place he valued the most. As he saw it ahead, he quickened his pace, and then stopped in front of it. He leaped onto the cool rock and stared down at the precious things.

Two swords. Both pointed north. One had red jewels, the other had blue. Skye sighed with happiness as he ran his paws over the silver blades. The red one was in terrible shape, chipped, burned. There was even dried blood on. Skye had always wondered whose blood that was. (AN: Demon lol!)

Skye rested beside the silver swords. He loved them so much. He felt like they were friends somehow, and that the swords knew him...or at least their owners did.

As Skye lay there, he looked up at the sky. It was darkening, not with night, but with clouds. He sighed. He would have to go back to his cave, and leave the swords there. He did not want to leave them. But he had to.

"Bye guys," He told them, blinking dark blue eyes. "Don't get to wet...really try to stay warm and dry." As he walked away, he kept looking back at them. He spent all his time with the thin, silver things. It tasted like bile to leave them.

Skye padded into his cave and curled up on the warm, sandy floor. He thought about the swords as he fell into sleep. He hoped they were alright. It was raining very hard now, and Skye worried for them.

Finally he closed his eyes, and dreamed about the two swords. He was sitting beside them, and they were with him. Then all of a sudden, they disappeared. 

"NO!" He yelled out in his dream, but he must have yelled it in reality too, because it woke him up. Skye scrambled to his feet and raced from the cave, into the pouring rain. Everything was wet, and water ran off the rocks in small rivers.

Skye hurt his paws as he tore over the jagged stones and gnarled bushes. He could see the rock where the swords were ahead, and he quickened his pace.

There they were. They were still there, side by side.

Skye sighed with relief, but as he did, the thunder crackled and rain gushed down. Skye let out a yell as the water dislodged the blue sword. He screamed as it was pulled foreword, and hung half off the edge. There was a moment when it hung there, then it toppled off and slipped silently into the roaring river, where it disappeared.

Skye screamed and ran foreword. He threw himself down, groping into the stream with a paw. Though his eyes were wide with shock, he did not find the sword. 

He turned and saw the red one. He gave a gasp. It was slipping foreword too. He lashed out a paw to catch it, but it too silently fell over the edge of the rock and slipped into the water.

"NO!!" He screamed. Skye thrashed his paws in the water, and he felt his leg hit the hilt of the red sword. Hope seared in his chest and he dashed into the stream after it, but as he did it was sucked down. He watched it, screaming and wailing as it grew smaller and smaller and was swallowed up be darkness.

Skye pulled himself back onto the slab of rock, turned over and started to bawl to the skies, wailing and sobbing and screaming with agony and grief. In this lonely, barren land, the swords were all Skye had had. And now they were gone.

"I'm so sorry..." He wailed to them, "I'm so, so sorry...Oh, I'm sorry..." He could not manage anything else. All he could to was lay there and cry, while the rain beat down on him in an unstopping rhythm. 


	2. Chapter 2: So Helpess

**IMPORTANT: Yes, I know Shadowflight named Skye Robinflight is Last One Over. Well, I don't like that name anymore, and I'll explain some stuff later. Yeah ok.**

_**Chapter 2, So Helpless**_

Skye cried for a long time, weeping over the loss of the two swords. He didn't even know why he was so sad, he just felt so heartbroken.

After ages, he padded back to the cave and curled up inside it. It wasn't even nice in there, though. The floor was damp and cold, and the air was itchy. Skye shivered and shook all night, unable to get warm. Finally he gave up, staring around at the cave.

Because it had been his home for all the seven moons of his life, Skye had made it look nice. He'd decorated the walls, made a bed for himself out of the gnarled bushes that grew, and even chipped a place to store water. He had made the cave his home.

And now, he suddenly felt himself detaching from it, detaching from the familiar surroundings...everything. Skye sat up straight, wondering what was coming upon him. As he stared into the quiet stream, he wondered if he was meant to do something here. 

He stood up and walked into the open. It had stopped raining, and dawn was coming. Skye stretched and looked around. It was so beautiful in the canyon...and yet, was this canyon the only thing there was on a tiny peace of land? What was beyond? Was there more? Was it not just him in all of everything? Was there more beings...more anything? Skye had always though he was the only one there was. Perhaps...perhaps he wasn't?

Skye stood up, stock straight. He had to find out. He had always wanted to go on and leave the cave, but his attachment to the swords had held him back. But they were gone now, and there was nothing he could do about them. Maybe it was telling him he had to move away from here, and explore?

He started to shiver at the thought. It scared him. Her was, admittedly, safe here, and basically happy. But still...he HAD to go find out other things.

Already he was getting excited. He turned and ran into the cave. He started to clean it up, not wanting to leave it like he had been smuggled from it. It packed away his bed, and emptied the water dish. (He drank most of the water out of it.) He smoothed the decorations, then headed back outside as the sun rose. He stared up the canyon as the sunlight started falling over the walls. He took a long drink from the stream, and waded in the shallows to clean himself. (He didn't know where the next water would be.) Then, to stock himself up hunger-wise, he went to some of the bushes and nibbled the tender leaves off them. It was what he always ate, but he found it disgusting all the same.

He looked around at the place he had known for so long, then kind of shrugged and walked off. He stopped soon, at the place where the swords had rested. He peered into the water, wanting to see them. But he also didn't want to. Because if he found them, then he'd want to stay.

Skye remembered which direction they had been pointing: north. Smiling, he chose that direction and started to walk at a brisk pace, eager to leave behind the cave.

He traveled for a long time. The canyon was huge, and he still walked in the bottom of it, following the silvery stream as it flowed foreword with him.

"Is it all just this canyon?" he muttered. There was a little bit of snow down here, like back at the cave. He sniffed it then moved on.

Days past, and still Skye traveled. It was long and tedious, walking in this canyon. Skye had begun to doubt his decision of leaving. If it was all going to just be this canyon, what was the point?

His paws had begun to crack from the rock. Still he walked. He passed nobody, nothing, but occasionally he saw a shadow race along the left edge of the canyon. (AN: Traders XD) When he saw these, Skye would pull himself into the wall of the canyon and hide for a few hours, because they scared him.

And then one day, the sound of the wind had slackened. Skye felt curious about this, and he padded quicker through the canyon, to find it slowly sloping upward. Excitement churned his belly. He raced over the rocks, almost slipping into the stream as he ran. the walls of the canyon became less and less as he headed upward, and then the next thing he knew--the canyon was gone.

Skye did not move for a second, and then he did, taking a 360 of his surroundings. Behind him was the canyon, and also behind him, where the canyon wasn't, was a vast, snowy plain. But in front of him, the snow ended right with the canyon, to be replaced by dark reddish asphalt. The asphalt was checkered with asphalt-less squares, and instead of them was patches of dusty, pale brown dirt with bushes inside them. Pale, dusty green bushes to, with tan trunks.

Skye hurried foreword, more interested in the red asphalt area then the snowy one. He moved onto it, and it was lightly warm beneath his pads. He smiled and padded foreword on the asphalt, for a few steps until he reached the nearest bush-patch. He jumped off the pavement into the bushes, and they tickled his belly and legs. He wormed underneath them, and scratched at the parched ground.

He came out again, and looked back at the canyon. He was surprised to see that the stream flowed into the ground. He stared at it for a while before turning back to the asphalt and the bushes.

He began to move foreword, feeling happy and light.

Skye walked for a while before feeling tired. Walking for many days like he had did get to him. He stared around for a place to sleep, and eventually settled with the bushes. He crawled deep inside them and watched as it grew dark. He made himself a bed out of the bushes branches and stared up through the leaves at the first two moons. It was cold here, because he was still near the canyon and the snow.

He looked up at the sky through the dark branches, and suddenly he felt really alone, and sad...and scared. He looked at the empty, star-struck sky, seeing the edge of the third moon just peeking over the horizon. He stared at its powerful silver light. You seem so there...he thought to it. He stared into the crying face implanted into the moon, and it stared back at him, reflecting his current emotion.

Skye wanted the swords. He wanted to stare at them before going off to sleep. He wanted the cave. He wanted the stream. The canyon. His familiar bed.

What have I done? He thought, rolling over. He buried his face in the branches so the moon's face could not see him crying.

**Ah...see, he's just a little kid. I mean kitten. He needs his mommy...poor Skye. LOL REVIEW! **


	3. Chapter 3: Selena

**Selena will be in this chapter! But she isn't the same Selena. Lol**

_**Chapter 3, Selena**_

Skye started off briskly the next morning, proudly padding along the auburn asphalt. He almost felt like he owned it, as it if was his. It could have been, too, considering nobody else seemed to live here.

But as soon as he thought that, he was proved sadly wrong.

Ahead things looked different. Instead of just being bushes in the asphalt-less places, a solid, jagged-edged blue building stretched twenty feet up into the sky, and bordering it was about a foot of the usual bushes until it reached the asphalt. Skye felt curious about this and quickened his pace, hurrying. Soon, he came right up to the border of the bushes. He froze, peering into the city thing in shock.

There were others inside it, and they moved around and talked. They were all different, different animals obviously. Skye saw a bear, a wolf, a zebra, a hippo…He did not know how he knew the names of these animals, but he didn't care, he was glad to know.

Skye padded foreword happily, wanting to get to know more about the animals. He stepped through the buildings, staring at unfamiliar faces as he went.

"Hi there!" A young leopard crashed into him on accident. Skye was so scared he fell down, curled up, and began to cry in earnest. The leopard looked uneasy then slid away.

Skye felt embarrassed, so he stood up, wiping away the tears. He hurried on, but before he could do something, he fell into a hole that was just sitting in the middle of the asphalt. He slipped and screamed as he ran into some animals.

He was in some kind of warm, round cave carved into the asphalt. He saw a lot of animals sitting around a bowl of milky whitish stuff with orange flecks in it. Was this a house maybe? The animals did not look surprised to see him, so Skye scrambled out. Maybe animals fell down into those hole-houses daily.

And now, as he looked, Skye saw holes in the asphalt everywhere. He smiled, realizing that they WERE homes. Homes to different families of animals.

Skye was also surprised to find that the species of the animals living in the holes varied quite a lot. It looked to him one time that a fox and a lion had mated, and their kids were an armadillo, a weasel, and a rat.

He hurried on. There were so many animals here. They packed in around Skye and he had to worm his way through them. But he liked it in this city, so he began to relax.

He passed by a sheep that was holding carrots. "Only three full carrots for a dozen!" He yelled. He saw Skye staring at him and came closer, grinning. Skye turned and ran away, flitting between the buildings. More animals he passed were selling things, and he didn't like them at all, so he finally plunged into the bushes.

As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't. Some mangy street cats reared out from the most tiny, hidden corners and leaped onto him. Skye screamed and rolled as they raked their claws at him and tore his pelt. He rolled and rolled, trying to get them off. He rolled into the open, and the other animals saw the cats that were attacking him. Instantly, they dropped everything and ran away screaming. Skye yowled and cried. These animals were not very supportive of him, obviously. And he needed so much help.

Skye tore himself from the evil cats and bounded away from them. They did not chase him, much to his great relief. Soon he just mingled back in with the crowd.

His belly began to growl, so he pulled himself into the bushes and nibbled on the leaves of the bushes. It was so revolting…

"Why are you eating bushes?" Came a voice. Skye looked up quickly to see a black and white she-cat with amber eyes staring down at him. She wasn't pretty, with scrubby fur, dull eyes and a gross little face. She was holding a carrot underneath her paw.

He stared at her blankly. "I'm hungry," he managed.

"Well, we don't eat bushes around here," She growled. "Gosh, where were you born? In one of the caps?"

She was confusing Skye, and some fear crept into him too. "I--," He didn't know what to say.

She didn't seem to care. Instead, she held up the carrot in her jaws. It was huge. About seven feet long and three feet wide at the base.

She shook under its weight and dropped it. "I dug it up this morning," She said proudly. "Isn't it such a feast?"

"You eat those things?" Skye asked her.

Her eyes grew bulbous with shock. "DUH!"

Skye backed up. "Well, I wasn't raised here…"

"Not in this city, you mean?" The weird black and white cat asked.

"Not…well…in a canyon, with snow…"

"OH! Down there? You were born down there? Lucky! In the south?! Tell me what snow is like! Did you see any," She lowered her voice, "Traders?"

Skye looked at her in confusion. "What are traders?"

"They're evil guys who steal away the young animals, like me and you, and trade them for carrots."

Skye sat up, wrapping his bushy silver tail around his legs. "Well, I don't really have any parents and everything, so I never learned any of this stuff. Do you live here?"

She nodded. "I do. In this city. It's called Snowtown. The thing is, my mom, who's a lynx, is really strict, and she won't let me or my brother venture away from the city and go south. I mean, we are SO close to the south, too! We really want to see snow, but she's so protective and won't let us. So we just have fun in the city. We like to climb the buildings. They're so slick, it's so hard, but when you--,"

Skye lifted his tail to stop her. "What's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Selena," She said, "And my brother is Jeremy. Isn't that such a dumb name? I'm going to be eight moons this weekend, but Jeremy is still only five moons, so I have to watch out for him."

Skye looked at her carefully. "Do you have a father?"

"Yes! Let me show you him, come on….what_ is_ your name?"

"Skye," He said nervously.

"Ok then, Skye. Well, let's move." Selena started off with Skye after her. They headed into the city steadily.

"Right here," Selena said, "This hole." She crouched down and wriggled through one of the holes in the asphalt. Skye followed her cautiously.

Selena looked around, and so did Skye. Her family's hole-house was rather small, and a little messy, but it seemed pretty good.

"Nobody but Jeremy is home," Selena meowed, "And he's sleeping." She flicked her tail at a little coyote pup that was slumbering on some leaves.

"Yeah," She went on, "My mom is at work, she works at the carrot-preparing factory. Carrots for Micemorsel, you know."

Skye felt squeamish—he did not know.

"And my dad works at….um…oh yeah, he works behind the desk at the hotel downtown. Alone they amount of carrots they get would not support our family, but together they can just make it, yeah. But whatever."

Skye curled up his tail. "I don't understand the carrot currency thing."

She sighed. "It's easy. You earn different sizes of carrots, Fullcarrots, Halfcarrots, and so on, and with those you can pay for your house, food and whatnot."

Skye shuffled. "But couldn't you just dig up carrots and use that as money?"

Selena shook her head. "Nope. You used to be able to, just about a moon before I was born. But the laws were changed. They said that you can only pay with carrots that have been marked by the president's money crew: and the mark looks like a little shield and sword. It's burned into the carrot."

"But you eat carrots too?" Skye asked.

"Of course. Usually everyone eats the normal food-Micemorsel. It's this milky white stuff with carrot in it and little bits of the belly of these white mice that are bred for Micemorsel. It's actually really gross. You could eat carrots, but you have to dig them up to get them. I mean, then you wouldn't have to pay, but digging them up takes a long time….here, let me show you the place where they sell Micemorsel. Come on!" Selena raced off with Skye hurrying after the long-winded cat. They raced through town and finally Selena stopped.

Skye looked up. A whole bunch of buildings had been strung together with wooden walls. (AN: Incase your wondering, they get the wood from the trees up north.) The big words, 'MICEMORSEL AND CARROT CO.' were burned into those walls. There were holes in the walls too, with shelves at the base of them, and some animals, obviously sellers, stared out through the large holes, to it looked like a stand. On those shelves were bowls of Micemorsel, or sometimes platters of just plain carrots, some steamed carrots…

"Isn't it awesome?" Selena asked. "Look at how long the lines are for the Micemorsel. It's so popular, it's weird." She sat, staring at it. "What should we do next?"

"I'm going to leave town and go farther…up," Skye said, "Because there has to be so much more to see."

Selena looked at him with shock. "Oh! Can I please, please, PLEASE come with you?"

"But why? Doesn't your mom not let you leave the city?"

"Well, yeah…but I'm sure we could do it unnoticed…"

"Then alright, I guess." He said.

Selena started to bounce. "Let's leave now! Come on, come on!" She sped away, and he bounded after her.

**The document/upload feature wasn't working on my computer…so I couldn't update. Growls yeah so review please!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Train and the Kinetics

_**Chapter 4, The Train and the Kinetics**_

They merged in with several others who were all heading out of the city. Skye stayed close to Selena as the animals pressed in around him.

They left the city with the flood of other animals. The huge group broke up and took their different ways. Skye looked behind him, and saw the city with its tall blue buildings.

"Smoggy today," Selena noticed as they trekked along together, away from the city.

Skye looked up at the sky and horizon. "Yeah. It almost looks dusty." As he said this, they saw something ahead. "What's that?" Selena asked.

Skye did not answer. They quickened their pace, and then stopped, seeing where all the dust was coming from.

A lot of different animals stood in patches of bushes, digging hard. Piles of carrots lay behind them.

"Animals at work," Selena meowed. "My mom will be one of them. Come on, let's move."

They walked on, passing different patches of the workers. A few of them glanced at the travelers but soon ignored them.

Selena bent down and snuck a carrot from one of the piles. She stuffed it inter her mouth.

"HEY! You stupid cat!" Snarled one worker, a leopard. He sprang out of the bushes and leaped at her. "I've been working hard all day, and I don't' need you to inconvenience me!" As he charged at them, the two turned and ran away. The leopard was to tired to chase them very far.

Selena giggled. "It's kind of fun, annoying them. Let's go."

The patches of bushes that contained workers went on for ages. It was late afternoon by the time they had gotten away from all of them.

"Well," Selena said. She looked ahead. Some animals seemed to be gathering around something. They hurried foreword to see what was happening.

Skye gasped when he saw it. There was a bunch of large wooden slats attached to wheels, all strung together. A team of four greyhounds were laced up to the front slat, and they stood panting.

"Oh…my…gosh." Selena whispered, almost mute with shock. "My father told me about these. They're called trains. It's a way to get fast transportation. What say we take one?"

"Sure!" Seeing the train load up, Skye couldn't' help but feel a rush of excitement. And the greyhounds looked so strong, standing there with muscles etched thickly into their legs.

Selena squared her shoulders and joined stalked up to what looked like a manager. "Excuse me?" She asked, "Can we have a ride on the train?"

"Fifteen Fullcarrots for a pole-to-pole trip." The manager said.

Selena looked at Skye nervously. "Um…well…we don't have any money…" Selena muttered.

"Better go get some, then," Said the manager.

"Well, when is this train leaving?" Selena asked.

"In a few minutes, but the next one is coming in three hours, you could take that."

"Ok, thanks," Selena said. She turned around and led Skye away.

"What are we going to do?" Skye asked her.

"We're going to pretend we were employed for the carrot-digging thing, and dig up carrots for money. Come on."

They raced back to the workers.

"Excuse me?" Selena asked one of them. "How much pay do you get for this?"

The worker panted and looked at her. "One Halfcarrot to a carrot dug."

"Thank you," Selena meowed and walked away.

"Alright," She said to Skye, "I did the math. We need to get thirty carrots in all. Start digging."

Skye padded to the nearest patch up bushes and fit in between some workers. One ignored him, but the other gave him a toothy smile.

Skye scratched nervously at the ground. It was hard as rock. He dug harder, and slowly made a hole in the ground. But he chewed up his pads in the process, and that hurt, a lot.

He managed to dig out four dusty carrots in one hour. He looked over at Selena. She was resting, gasping for breath in the dust. She had got seven carrots.

Skye kept going, scraping and digging and pulling out carrots. After another hour he had made ten carrots, and Selena had made fifteen.

Another half an hour. He had made twenty carrots, and Selena twenty five. He padded over to her, dragging them with him.

Selena added them together. "YES!" She yelled, "Forty five! Come on; let's give them up to a manager for money."

They wandered around the work-field, looking for someone who wasn't digging. Finally they found a snoozing lion.

"Sir?" Selena woke him.

"Hmm?" He grumbled. He looked at the carrots, then counted them, yawning all the while.

"Forty five Halfcarrots," he muttered, handing them some dirty carrots with a shield and sword branded into them. "All yours."

Selena bounded off with Skye after her. He winced as his raw pads hit the asphalt.

"We just have seven minutes until the train leaves, so let's go! Come on!" They bounded together, holding their money.

The next train had arrived. Skye could see it was packed.

"Here you are, sir." Selena dumped thirty Halfcarrots at the manager, and he moved aside to let them on.

There was almost no room on the wooden slat-traincars. Skye swallowed as he saw how stuffed everyone was. And, as some animals gave their money, they clambered desperately onto the train and clung to an edge.

"Ah well," Selena said and shrugged, "It'll do."

She came foreword and searched for an empty traincar. There was of course, none, but the one that had the least animals was the one right in the middle, for an odd reason. Selena braced herself then sprung onto the edge. She twisted and rolled, then yanked herself to her feet. She sat just on the edge.

Skye copied her, swallowing with nervousness. His claws hit the edge of the slat, and as he pulled himself on, a great wave of animals forced him back. He struggled to get up, and someone grabbed his scruff and heaved him on.

Skye gripped the edge with his claws. There were so many animals here, he felt like he would drown. And still more were coming, steadily too, handing their money to a manager then attempting to get onto the train.

"Why so many animals?" Skye asked Selena in a whisper.

She looked back at him, then made her voice very low. "It's a cheap way to get away from a place pretty fast. Most of these animals have performed a crime of some sort, and are escaping arrest."

"But how come the manager lets them on the train, then?" Skye asked as a party of five monkeys sprang onto their traincar.

"Well, they know that, but they kind of designed the train knowing about that. So, the train is for the bad guys."

Skye looked around at all the animals. And yes, something kind of sinister was creeping from them…

"And then the guys who didn't perform a crime, that are rich, they take an airplane. They're these big wooden things that fly." Selena said.

"Luckies," Skye growled.

There was a shrill yell. Skye looked ahead to see the greyhounds bunching their muscles. Then they sprang against the reigns. Nothing happened. Not a jerk to the train.

It's too heavy! Skye thought, feeling panic. All the animals were yelling and stomping.

The greyhounds sprung again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Again. Yes! A jerk! As soon as the jerk happened, the greyhounds set their paws to the ground and started pulling hard, yanking the train along. Slowly, slowly it got started, swaying lazily from side to side. As it moved, animals rushed foreword and started leaping on. They were pushed back by the crowd, and they screamed in rage. Skye didn't want to look at them.

The train was packed. It picked up speed slowly, and stayed at a pace of about 45 MPH. Skye watched the asphalt below them flit past. He felt uncomfortable, sitting stuffed up beside these animals that had performed some kind of crime. When he looked over at the raven sitting next to him, he saw it fiddling with its wing, and whenever he lifted it Skye could see a small hole and some blood in it.

The train trundled on with the darkening day. As night came, the manager fought his way down the traincars, yelling out an announcement. "Entering town Tizzler! If you need to get off here, there will be a brief stop! Entering Tizzler!"

Selena turned around to face Skye. "That's cool! We get to go through a city. I mean, let's see if I can remember my geography...Oh yeah! Tizzler's pretty small, and after that is Oldstown, that's pretty small too...then Silversides...HUGE...Riverside...big...Burleyville...Harpton...yeah..."

The train was slowing down. Skye fidgeted nervously. Some animals rustled. The train came to a complete stop.

Instantly, a lot of animals surged off, overthrowing others in their haste. Skye ducked down as they got off. Soon, there was a lot more room. Selena hurried into the middle of the traincar. Now only a few people remained on the train at all.

"Most of them just get off at the closest stop, because they know they're far enough away from the police." Selena muttered to him in low tones.

Skye looked around at the few who remained. "And these animals are...?"

"They probably committed an even bigger crime, and want to get as far from the city they committed the crime in as they can." Skye stared at her in anxiousness, but he did feel safer with the lack of animals, so he curled up and the rock of the train lulled him to sleep.

XXX

Skye woke early, and saw the bright blue sky above him, the the sun burning inside it. He shot to his feet. The traincar only had Selena and one other on it. She was sleeping some yards away.

She raised her head and blinked. "Oh look!" She pointed ahead, "We're entering Silversides!" She shivered with excitement. "It's soooo big..."

And it was. As the train trundled through it, the buildings never seemed to end. There was a lot of commotion too, and the animals looked up as the train passed, then hurried back to whatever they were doing. Skye stood on the traincar to watch them. When the trains stopped, almost everyone else got off. The train waited, and then a little later a lot more animals got on. Soon it was packed again.

For the rest of the following days Skye slept and snoozed. He felt safer on the train then he had earlier. Occasionally he awaken, and see the ones who had gotten on or off the train. One time he saw a whole family: a mother warthog, a father hawk, and six different offspring. They got off as soon as they could.

Skye had been sleeping soundly when he awoke to find the train completely stopped. He looked around, expecting a city, but saw no buildings. Slowly he got to feet and tried to see what was happening.

Ahead, right in front of the halted greyhounds, was a huge river, a mile wide and going on in either direction forever.

"Wow..." Selena whispered beside him, "The equator!"

The greyhounds stood panting in front of the water. They spoke to the manager, and he came back along the traincars, giving instructions.

"Everyone is to grip the edge of the traincare, and swim along side it. Swim straight to the other side. Everyone get a grip, now!"

Skye was lost in the hustle of animals trying to grab an edge. He fell of the traincar. Not even Selena noticed him. She stood beside the traincar, clutching the edge happily.

"I--," Skye didn't know what to say. Nobody payed him any attention. And the greyhounds were already wading into the river. The train was moving.

Skye scrambled to his feet and raced after it. "SELENA!" He screamed.

She whirled around and saw him. "Oh, Skye! Quick, get a grip!"

Skye felt his eyes cloud with fear and shock. "I can't swim." He whispered.

"Then onto the traincar with you!" Some unknown animals swoopped down and picked him up. He flung Skye onto the traincar. The cat lay there, stunned.

Finally he raised his head. The train was being whipped downriver as the animals slowly swam into the river. Skye shuddered as his traincar entered the water. The animals started to paddle. Skye saw water flow up onto the wood. He whined with fear.

But everyone was pulling toward the other bank, and they were strong enough that the train wasn't sucked away, and it pulled itself onto the opposite side. Then it plowed on.

XXX

Skye slept soundly. They had long since gotten out of the river, and they had already gone through the town Riverside. Now he slept on his back, snoring.

Suddenly, some raised voices made him open his eyes. He slowly stared out at the dark, star-filled sky then sat up. It was very late, the large moon had already come and gone. Skye looked around. Everyone was looking ahead at something in the dark, and the train was stopped.

All of a sudden, everyone started getting off the train with shocked whispers. Skye stumbled along beside a half-asleep Selena. He stared around, what was it that everyone was so interested in?

And then he saw it. A few feet ahead of the train he had been on was the other train. It was strewn across the ground, twisted and broken. Some traincars were on their side, others on their back, and many were disconnected. All the greyhounds lay dead on the ground, basking in their own blood. The animals that had been riding were strewn around the area, some dead and some grievously wounded. Others, the survivors, were walking away from the scene slowly, their breath clouding the air.

But he had not yet seen the worst. As Skye turned his head, he saw the last four traincars. They were in flames, rolled over on their backs or sides. The smoke curdled into the air, and the fire crackled and flashed. Everything was broken and shattered.

"Selena..." He muttered.

He heard some animals behind them talking.

"Wow...that's really bad...No wonder our train drivers are making us get off...they don't want to get what happened to the other train...look at that one little lion cub...all that blood...I still wonder what got them..."

Skye turned his head away from them and stared at the burning train and all its dead passengers. He thought the dead greyhounds were the worst, but then he saw two animals, that had obviously been sleeping together, lying on the asphalt with their heads disconnected and a few feet away.

One wounded animal moved its head and looked directly at Skye, its eyes reflected by the flames. Skye stared at it in shock, until he broke away, shaking in fear and disbelief. He couldn't even believe that this could happen. He had seen this train just days earlier. He and Selena had wanted to take it. And here it was, totally broken. Burning. Twisted. Crippled.

Suddenly, voices raised in fear and shock passed along the crowd, and reached Skye.

"That's who did it! That's who beat up that train! The Kinetics!"


	5. Chapter 5: Disappearances and Arrivals

Chapter 5,

_**Chapter 5, Disappearances and Arrivals**_

The Kinetics? What was that? Skye looked around, waiting for answers. Nobody paid him any attention.

"What are Kinetics?" He asked Selena. She shrugged. She did not know. He was surprised, because she seemed to know everything about the world.

Everyone was getting back on the train. Skye didn't go with them. He didn't feel safe on the train.

"I don't really want to well…go on the train anymore," He muttered to Selena. He was looking at the burning train. He didn't want that to happen.

"You want to walk?" she asked him. He nodded slowly.

"Alright." The other train was backing up slowly, then turning and making a wide ark around the other train. Skye started to walk after it. He watched it speed ahead, into the distance. A few others from his train were walking too.

All of a sudden, some greyhounds dashed out from the gloom. They were shiny, sleek and well-groomed. They did not look like the train drivers.

Seven of them bounded over to the wrecked train and checked things out. Two others headed over to the walking ones, like Skye and Selena.

"Are you survivors of this train wreck?" One asked them.

Selena shook her head. "No. We got off the other train. We were nervous on it."

"Did you witness this train attack?"

"No," Selena said, "Our train just came across it. But this looks recent, because the blood is still shining, and if it wasn't shining, it would be dry, and old."

"We are not worried about when it happened," the greyhound-police said, "We know it happened only two hours and five minutes ago. A messenger raven was sent to us. Are there any survivors that you know of?"

Skye jumped in. "Yes! I saw about fifteen animals walking away from it. And I think that some people lying over by that train are still alive too, but barely."

"They are being cared for," Said the greyhound. "Do you have any idea what attacked this train?"

"Yes," Selena said, "They said Kinetics. What are Kinetics?"

The greyhound stiffened and shadows covered his eyes. "Our brothers…" He muttered to himself. "They are the police forces from our twin," he said.

"What do you mean?" Skye begged. Our twin? Skye had no twin…who was 'our?' and police forces? Weren't the greyhounds the police forces?

"Are they greyhounds like you?" Skye asked him.

He shook his head. "No, they're not. I must go now. Walk as far away and as fast as you can. Do not linger, for the Kinetics may still be watching us." He glanced nervously at the nearby bushes. "It was wise you did not take the train. The Kinetics do not want us to take any forms of transportation. I am sure their bombs will not reach two little travelers."

He turned and pranced away. Skye stared at him in shock. Who would bomb this peaceful world? And he still did not know what Kinetics were.

Selena stopped beside him. "That cop was nice, but he did not make it clear what Kinetics are." She lashed her tail. "I need to find out. I want to know everything about Eris!"

"Eris?"

"This world! It's called Eris! Like the big one we're next to is called Earth! Don't you know?"

He shook his head. "No. Selena, you can't know everything about the world. I mean, that's mentally impossible."

"I know a lot though!" She snarled. "My mom takes time away from work to teach me geography and stuff about the cities. I know all the place routes and train routes, and all the cities in order! I know both hemispheres and halves of the world by heart! Plus I've memorized the routes and paths the deer take up north and down south!"

"And that's good!" He cried, "It's good you know so much and are smart and care! But you can't know everything!"

She flew to her feet and spit in the air. "I _must_ know _every_thing! And I already do! Ask me something!"

"Is there any metal on the north cap?" He whispered.

"No!" She said, "Of course not! It is all forest up there!"

Something stirred inside Skye, and he shook his head slowly. "You are wrong." He muttered, "There is metal up there." He did not know how he knew these things. It was as if there was someone inside his head, telling him there WAS metal on the north cap.

Selena lashed her tail. "I do know everything! How would you even know anything? You need to believe me, because I know I am right."

Skye felt his tail curl up. "I…"

"Ok then, fine!" She screamed, then ran off into the darkness. "I'm going back to Snowtown!"

Skye turned the other direction and walked away slowly, because he didn't even want to see her again. She was just a stuck up know-it-all who wanted to push him around. He wasn't going to let her do that. She could brood and become as smart as she wanted, just he wouldn't be there to hear about it.

XXX  
Skye walked for a long time that night, but then he broke away from the other stragglers and survivors and scrambled into the bushes. He got secure underneath them, so he curled up and waited for sleep. It did not come, but hunger did. Skye looked around, then began to scrape at the ground, remembering how to dig up carrots. When he saw the ferny, leafy stuff that had carrots for roots, he deg harder until he had pulled the carrots out. He ate them quickly, trying to wolf it down.

He fell asleep then, and did not wake until the middle of the next day. He stood and stretched, then looked around. Last night, when it was dark, he had barely been able to see anything. Now though, when he looked around, he saw a little black dot behind him, where the wrecked train was, and ahead he could see some tiny buildings silhouetted against the sky.

As he emerged from the bushes, he heard a rumble, and turned his head to see a train trundling foreword. The greyhounds lashed ahead, bounding, with their tongues hanging from their frothing mouths. Skye watched the traincars go by, packed with animals. This train had to be the one that had left three hours after his.

Skye walked on behind it, as it disappeared in front of him. He walked slowly, savoring the cool breeze and warm air. He couldn't see anyone anywhere around him, except a few fast walking animals would pass him with a hello then disappear. Skye concluded that this route was a popular transportation path.

The faraway city came more into focus as Skye traveled nearer. Soon it was very close.

Right before the buildings started, Skye stopped when he met a huge crowd of animals. In front of them stood a very pretty swan perched delicately on a dais. She was singing in a high, clear, beautiful voice.

_"How beautiful are the feet of them, that tread the path of despair. How beautiful are the feet…"_

Skye listened for a while, but soon lost interest and walked on, into the city. It was a medium sized city, and the animals milled about, at work or whatnot.

Skye wished he could know the name of this city, so he padded up to someone and tapped them gently on the shoulder with his tail.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"Don't interrupt," Grunted a voice in answer.

Skye walked away, and tried another animal, this one was a leopard.

"Excuse me?"

She looked at him. "Hmm?"  
"I'm a traveler, and I'd like to know the name of this city, please."

"Burleyville." The leopard turned away and continued with whatever she was doing.

"Thank you." Skye padded off.

He came around two buildings and saw two cheetahs sitting next to each other, tails twined. Both were giggling. The female reached up with a soft paw and batted the male's face gently. "Oh Robin, you're such a little funny one." The male grinned. "Of course I am, Mellissa." Saying this, he snuggled up closer to her and wrapped his neck around hers.

Skye watched them blandly. The male looked at him and stared hard as he walked across the pavement. Skye gave him a glare. He did not want to be stared at.

The city was like any other. Skye joined in at a workhouse and earned some money, so he went and bought his way over to the big area that sold Micemorsel, and he bought some steamed carrots, which he ate lustily.

Then he padded off toward some thick, green looking bushes and curled up, hoping sleep. It came soon, and Skye slumbered for a long while.

Suddenly, while he was in the middle of a huge dream, somebody prodded him. Skye's eyes flew open and he looked around in shock. He saw an orange spotted face just a few feet from his. "Hi," The voice said, "I've been looking for you."

Skye screamed.


	6. Chapter 6: Robin's Help

_**Chapter 6, Robin's Help**_

"No! No! Calm down! I don't mean any harm. In fact, I mean great help."

Skye struggled to get away, and soon he backed up until he felt the building's wall against his back. "I don't need help!" he gasped, "I'm fine! Get away from me!"

The cheetah backed away nervously. "Ok. I'm sorry. I didn't try to scare you, but I have to say some stuff. I know who you are!"

Skye shook his head. "That means nothing to me."

"Well…when I saw you well….earlier today…I recognized you instantly. But you're a lot bigger. You look pretty good, too!"

"Nobody saw me when I was small," He growled. "Nobody was there. I was all alone in a canyon with a cave and two swords."

The cheetah stared at him, then smiled. "That makes sense. I saw you right after you were born. I was there when you were named." He smiled. "I'm pretty sure that I'm your father."

Skye just stared at him. "So?"

The cheetah, or his father, looked shocked. "You don't even care?"

"Why would I? In fact, why would I like you even the tiniest bit? You dumped me when I was a kitten!"

The cheetah fidgeted, and Skye realized he was the one he had seen earlier that day, with the female cheetah.

"Well…that was partly your mother. She couldn't take care of you, because she had to leave. I'm sorry…I should have taken you with me."

Skye looked up at him. "What's your name, then anyway?"

"Robin," He said, and smiled.

"And that other cheetah is my mom, then, right?" Skye asked crudely.

Robin grew visibly uncomfortable. "Well….no..."

"What is she then? Your sister?" Skye asked.

Robin looked around and fidgeted. "Um…no…"

"Well what is she then?" Skye snapped.

"Like…a friend."

Skye snorted.

Robin looked around then gushed it out. "My mother…well, she said that I had to do something with my life, you know, she said I was a grown-up now, and had to do something, so when I asked 'what?' she said I should settle down with someone and start a family. So I'm doing that…"

Skye looked at him in disbelief. "You already had a family! I was your son!"

"But my mom…when I told her that, she said that because my mate was not longer on the world, she said to forget about her and get a realistic mate."

"My mother isn't on the world?" Skye asked his in shock.

Robin nodded. "She had to leave, or I would die. She's probably happy on earth now."

"Well, that doesn't mean you can just get a new mate, just because my mom is gone! She's still alive!"

"But I'll never see her again," Robin protested. "Plus, I love Mellissa. She'll—I mean she'd--be the perfect mother. And she loves me, and I've already known her for a third moon."

"A THIRD MOON?" Skye screamed. "That's like two weeks! You call that a long time?"

Shadows filled Robin's eyes and he lowered his voice. "Well….I've already mated with her."  
Skye felt mad. "You're a really stupid father, and I hate you. Get away from me and stay away."

Skye stood up and walked away from the startled cheetah, leaving him behind.

XXX  
Skye spent the next day snoozing under bushes and resting. He was enjoying this sunny, warm life.

One day though, when he was waking up, he looked up at the sky. It was smoky and grey, and filled with ash. Some animals walked beside Skye, talking.

"Isn't it shocking? Harpton was bombed last night. They still can't find the culprit. I don't know who would bomb Harpton though. It's so big! I hear it got the same treatment that one train got…I can't believe it, can you?"

Skye stared at them in shock. Harpton was a city, he knew that. Had it been bombed? Did it look like that train had, with so many dead and everything burning and twisted and mangled? Wasn't this the act of the Kinetics? And what were they anyway?

Skye stood up and headed to the Micemorsel Company with some money. He bought some carrots and settled down to eat them.

He was sitting near some animals. One dog, looking old and rather wise, was speaking quietly.

"The bombings are planned. I know it. How else would the bombs hit exactly just the cities and trains? A train is hard to bomb, and you have to observe it very carefully to even get a shot on it. And if you can't completely cripple the train with the first shot, you're out of luck. We're being watched, tracked, followed. Someone or something wants to wipe us out. They're bombing us at night, when we're not expecting. And the other side of the world, guess what? Two cities have been completely destroyed and one train. We are being watched."

There was silence after his speech. Skye shivered and looked around, expecting evil shadows to spring out at him and start flinging bombs into the air.

XXX

The next day the news continued. The animals flocked into groups. The ash and smoke was still in the sky.

Skye padded over to listen in.

"Wallpall, that town way down south, was bombed last night."

Shivers and mutters of fear went through the listeners.

"And not only that, another town nearby it was bombed too. Snowtown has been completely destroyed."  
Skye stared at him in gripping, chilling fear and horror. Skye had been in Snowtown just days before it was bombed. But that wasn't all. Selena had gone back to Snowtown, and she had probably reached it before the bombing. Was she alright?

Skye padded away, not wanting to hear more. He mingled with others and tried to calm down. This bombing was getting really serious.

Skye slept in the bushes that night, tucked up against the building. He awoke frequently in the night, and when he did, the huge, big moon was always a little higher in the sky. Skye stared at its calming, crying face and smiled. He liked the big moon.

But something seemed wrong. As he looked at its silver face, a small black speck started hurtling toward him. It disappeared over the buildings.

Then there was a huge, shattering, horrendous boom. Smoke and debris flew into the air. Skye stood up as some other animals emerged from their holes, trying to see what was happening.

Suddenly, these large, round, black things started hurtling through the air and hitting the ground with horrific booms. Each time, a mushroom cloud of fire, smoke and debris exploded into the air.

Skye scrambled from the bushes as terror seized his chest. Animals all over were running in terror. Skye screamed as a black bomb exploded six yards away from him. Asphalt flew through the air and rained down. A big chunk of it hit an antelope, and it fell down with a scream.

Skye turned and ran. It seemed safer ahead. He dashed foreword and raced along the pavement. Other animals collided with him. Dust filled the air, and he coughed in it.

A little family with some young animals raced past. A bomb fell right on them and they disappeared.

Skye fled between the buildings. He heard a splashing behind him and looked over his shoulder. Oil was raining heavily from the sky, thick and black. It splattered over everything, coating it dark. There was fire in the bushes, and when it touched the oil, it raged foreword, licking up all oil in its path. Skye ran foreword as fast as he could.

Some bombs hit the buildings, and chunks of solid bluish rock fell from the sky. Skye ran and ran in desperation as smoke and chunks of asphalt and building rained down upon him. There was so much hitting him, and there was so much fire. Everything was everywhere. He kept tripping over dead and wounded animals or falling into the holes the bombs had created. He kept looking at the big moon too, and taking courage and strength from it. But it was sliding from the sky quickly.

Skye ran on. He stumbled into a place that was slimy with oil, but it had not yet been bombed, and there was no fire. But there were no animals either.

Where are all of them? Skye thought in shock. He was safe for a moment here, but he knew not for very long.

Suddenly, there came fire, creating a circle around him and trapping him inside it. The burning flames came steadily closer, threatening to choke Skye in their heat.

"HELP!" He screamed. Nobody came. He began to run, wildly, hoping that the flames would pass by him easily. He felt them scorch his back, and he screamed, falling down. Oil covered him fur and fire beat down on him. Debris and rock and everything…it was all coming at him…

Suddenly, he was being pulled away, out of the flames. He grew limp and weak as he was dragged along the scarred asphalt. Then the fire and the oil and the bombs were gone.

He looked up, and saw the sky above him. Just half of the big moon showed. The sky was getting dark.

"Here, stand up." A quiet voice was whispering into his ear.

Skye whipped his head around and saw the young cheetah that had called himself Skye's father. Skye just stared at him, then staggered to his feet.

He looked foreword and saw the city. It was only thirty feet away.

And it was broken. The buildings were broken, shattered things weakly pointing to the sky. Smoke and dust rose silently. The glow of fire lit up the whole area, making everything alight with a pale orange glow.

The bushes were little piles of ash, with just a few feeble sticks still standing. Everything was washed with rubble, and then of course there were bodies strewn about everywhere.

There were almost no survivors. Two pandas huddled close by, and a horse that had broken both its hind legs struggled on the ground next to them. A mountain lion gritted its teeth with frustration as it tried to stand up with a gaping wound on its side.

Skye looked over at Robin nervously. He was staring at the crumbling city, his eyes reflecting the fire.

From the darkness came the greyhound police. They dashed foreword. A few vanished into the city. Some started searching the outskirts of the area for survivors. One came over to Robin and Skye.

"Were you in the city when it was bombed?" the police asked.

Robin nodded.

"Are you injured?"  
"Slightly."

The cop glanced around. "Did you by any chance see who bombed the city?"

Robin shook his head but Skye stood up. "I saw the first bomb. It was a big black thing that just fell straight from the sky."

"You did not see where it was fired from?"

"No."

The cop fidgeted. "Have you seen many survivors?"

"I think the few out here are the only ones," Robin meowed.

The greyhound cop nodded. "We do not know what these attacks are from. We do not see how Kinetics could possibly be the ones behind it all. I must go." He ran off.

Robin watched him, stony faced, then looked up at the sky for a long time.

"Skye? Was the bomb just coming from the sky?"

Skye nodded. "And it was easy to see too, because the moon was so big and bright."

Robin just stared at the sky more. Finally he spoke.

"I so see a way the Kinetics could be behind it. In fact, it's too obvious."

**Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Shot

_**Chapter 7, Shot**_

"What? How?" Skye pressed against his father. "Please tell me! I must know!"

Robin stared at him. "Alright, then." He began to settle down.

Suddenly, out of the sky, some hard little pellets whizzed. One hit Robin and he sprung to his feet, yelling.

"Bullets!" He screamed. He started to run, Skye behind him. More bullets came. Blood appeared whenever they hit Skye or Robin.

There was no place to go. The bullets just kept following them.

"HERE!" Robin screamed. He crouched beside a big crack that separated the normal land from the city.

"Don't go in the city!"

"We MUST escape the bullets!" Robin yelled. Skye did not know why he was so afraid of the tiny things. They did hurt when you got hit, but they weren't killing.

Robin sprung across. A bullet flew through the air and hit him straight in the head. He fell down and hit the ground hard, motionless.

"NO!" Skye screamed. A bullet him hard too, and he clenched his shoulders with pain. A line of bullets went over Robin, leaving a hard mark every time they hit. Skye watched in horror as the bullets beat up the cheetah more and more.

Skye screamed and ran, tripping over rubble and whatnot. There was so much in his way, and blocking him, and still the bullets came for him.

Skye dove into some bushes and scrabbled until he was in the deepest place imaginable. The bullets combed through the bush, and when they were shooting a different place, Skye snuck from the bushes. He inched slowly across the open asphalt, holding his breath and hoping he wouldn't be caught. He found the other bushes and stopped, gasping with relief.

The bullets searched through the other patch of bushes for a long time. Finally though, their horrid banging stopped.

Skye stayed hidden for a long, long time, even though the bullets were gone. The night was achingly long, and he wanted desperately for light to come. The night was freezing too, without city buildings to block the wind, Skye was chilled as ever.

And what had happened to Robin? He had been struck right in the head. Had that killed him? And then he had been soaked with bullets. There was no possible way for anybody to survive that. He had been about to tell Skye how the Kinetics could be behind it! And then the bullets came…was that more of just a coincidence?

Finally, there was a pale glow on the horizon. But it was still to dark for Skye to come out.

There was light then. The sun came above and Skye could see. He squirmed from under the bushes as warmth spilled onto the asphalt. He sat there, thinking about where to go and what to do. He didn't dare go back to the city and Robin, because he was afraid of seeing his father wounded.

After a long time he decided to head down, more south and stop in the next city. But he would not stay there during the night, for fear that it would be bombed.

Skye started to walk, walking away from the Burleyville and its rubble. He looked back at the city over and over, shaking at the crumbling buildings and the smoke.

He walked far all day, and dreaded night with all his might. But finally it came, darkening the blue sky slowly. He smiled when he saw the big moon rising, but still he feared that the bombers were looking for him, so he pulled himself into some bushes. He found the thickest area and forced his way into it. He ate a few raw carrots then fell asleep.

Skye awoke early. The sky was bright and warm. He got up and continued heading south.

He neared a city, but before he saw the buildings he saw the animals. A few were lingering around the city, discussing stuff.

"Cradd and Silversides were bombed," said a goat. Skye flattened his ears as another one said, "I heard Buleyville got it really bad. It's not very big, so it isn't hard to wipe out. I heard there were only seven survivors."

Skye slunk away from them. He didn't like all this talk about bombing. And yet it was good to know the facts.

"A train was completely smashed last night," Skye looked up as a yak walked past, talking to an eagle. "When the police came, they found it basically dust. And it was burning, too."

Skye couldn't help but say: "How can you sound so calm? What if it comes to this city next?"

The yak looked at him then gave a short laugh. "Who would bomb Riverside? We've got some good police forces, and we're a huge, old city."

"I used to live in Burleyville," Skye told him, "I am one of the seven survivors. Before we were bombed, everybody was talking about the bombings as calmly as you. They did not expect to be bombed. Then they were."

The yak snorted loudly. "You're paranoid. We are fine."

Skye flicked his ears and looked up at the big animal. "Well, I know at least that I shall not be sleeping here tonight."

The yak grunted. "If that's your choice, ok."

As Skye got deeper into the city, he heard others talking.

"I wonder what a bombed city looks like afterward."

"Somebody said that oil rains down to help the fire."

Skye hissed. They had to start getting worried! If everyone just thought all the other cities would get bombed and not them, then everyone would die!

He left the city that night, putting five miles between him and it. When he awoke he headed back to the city. It was still standing, but the animals were all reporting the other attacks. A city called Leopard had been bombed.

But then, for the next few days, no bombing reports had been given. The animals still talked about the past bombings, but did not tell about any new ones. Skye listened hard too, and after a week the animals began to calm down and did not talk much at all about the bombings. It seemed as if they were suddenly safe.

Finally Skye thought it was safe enough to sleep in the city at night, so he started doing that regularly.  
That night, he woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. Skye got up and started walking around, slowly. It was quiet and the big moon was high in the sky. It was so quiet Skye could hear his heart beating even when he was breathing hard.

Suddenly he hard a strange fizzing sound from above him. Skye looked up, but nothing seemed unusual. He continued staring at the sky, and the next thing he knew, something seemed to be rippling the night, and it was spreading and getting larger. The whole sky was changing and getting lighter, and it was sparkling and looking strange.

But the moon—it was getting larger and larger and coming closer. And it no longer looked so silver. It looked kind of reddish….with patches of green…and huge patches of tan.

Suddenly, there was a crack and then the moon—which no longer seemed to be a moon- started coming closer and closer to the ground. Skye ran as fast as he could, panting in fear. A huge rumble started behind him as he bolted across the ground, and then there was a huge boom and a deafening crack. The ground shook and he fell down, cracking his head across the asphalt.

There was silence then, and dust blew in front of Skye's face. Wind whipped past his ears, and he slowly struggled to his feet, looking around.

Barely a few yards in front of him was the strangest thing ever.

It seemed like the ground was flat then came up in a good 10 degree angle that got larger. It was more like another planet had bumped onto this planet, and it sat there blankly. And when Skye looked up, he did not see the moon anymore. And even if it had been there, it would have been blocked by this new planet.

But the new planet did not look like a strange new planet. In fact, it looked exactly like Eris, with red asphalt and patches of bushes every five feet. It was exactly the same except that there were huge patches of parched dirt, where it looked like all the bushes and asphalt had been scooped out. Skye stared at this new planet that was exactly the same as his, and he began to feel afraid.

Some other animals started appearing out of their holes. Screams sounded when they saw the twin world that had bumped into theirs.

Some started to run away, but Skye remained standing in shock. All of a sudden, he had remembered something the police dog had told him when they had come to inspect the train wreck. Skye had asked: "What are Kinetics?" and the greyhound had answered, "Police forces from our twin." Twin! As he stared at the new planet, Skye realized that it was their twin! Is this where the Kinetics were?  
Suddenly, Skye felt an upward tug on his fur. He gave a cry as he was sucked off his feet. He was not the only one. All these animals were being pulled from the ground.

Skye was flung foreword. He flew through the air and bumped into the twin. There was separate gravity on it too, and it held Skye to its ground. He started jump, wanting to get back on Eris.

Suddenly, a German Shepherd dog came walking out of the bushes. He was holding a gun in his teeth, which he dropped when he saw them.

"Hello," He grinned cruelly, icy blue eyes glinting from deep sockets. "We've been waiting a long time for you." He jerked his head. "Welcome to Aster."


	8. Chapter 8: Alira

_**Chapter 8, Alira**_

The German Shepherd aimed his gun at the animals from Eris as if attempting to shoot them. As soon as they saw the barrel pointed at them, the animals obediently started to walk. Skye did not though, until the Shepherd clicked then gun. Then he moved.

The Shepherd walked them far away. As Skye looked back, Eris became harder and harder to see as the new planet filled his view. But Aster was not different at all; it was like he was still on the same planet.

"Um—sir?" He asked the German Shepherd. It looked at him and snapped its pointed teeth. When it turned away Skye looked at it. It was almost like a wolf, strong with a black coat and pointed ears. What was it, though? It looked like a police dog almost, but if it was a police dog it would be a Kinetic…and it seemed too kind to be a Kinetic. Skye always thought that Kinetics would be savage and mean, because of the horrible bombings they had been suspected of doing.

But how did he know they were behind it? Skye flicked his ears at the thought. Maybe somebody else was doing the bombings, but the citizens of Eris had nobody else to suspect.

They walked for a long time. Skye looked around, and then they entered a city. It was empty. He peeked in the holes that usually contained animals, but they had been swept spotlessly clean. Nobody milled about, and the bushes had overgrown and were peeling onto the asphalt. The German Shepherd did not speak about this or mention it at all. He just smiled and paraded through.

They continued on for the rest of the day. Every so often they'd come across big patches that had been cleared of asphalt and bushes. They were just plain, parched, tan dirt where clouds of dust rose steadily and whipped around the area. The Shepherd avoided these blank patches, walking neatly around them.

They walked even in night, and when morning struck, something that signaled life came into view. Skye squinted in the dawn light, was just able to make out what looked like a bunch of cabins. As they neared it, he realized that it was cabins, all small, dog-house like and identical. The bushes were overgrown and draped the cabins in their leaves, making everything look shady and pleasant.

In the center of the small cabins was a larger cabin, with two doors. It rested near a large, cleared out place. But instead of the parched sand, it was filled with thriving bushes and greens.

The German Shepherd stopped by this large cabin. As Skye watched, some other animals emerged from various areas. They stared hard then skipped off, talking or playing.

"Welcome," Said the Shepherd to the travelers. "As I said before you are on Aster, and if you have any intelligence, you will have figured out what Aster is. This is Camp Gathering. Here animals gather because well…that's actually private, heh heh. Anyway, you are to stay here and live at the camp. There is a meal when the sun is half down, and the rest of the day is spent either in cabins or doing fun activities. I'm Caster, or the Escort-Boy. Thank you. Any bad behavior will be called on, so try to be good. Any vacant cabin can be yours. Claim it by scratching the wood above the door."

Caster walked off, leaving the animals from Eris alone. Skye moved with them as they headed into the sea of shaded, wooden cabins. But he soon broke away and neared a clean looking one that was draped in bushes and vines. He looked above the door of the cabin. The faint marks of others who had scratched it showed, and he wondered what had become of the ones who used to live in it.

But the cabin was vacant, so Skye slipped inside the dog-house sized thing. A rounded door and small window was all there was to let outer light in. A blue cotton blanket was scrunched on the dusty floor, amid some spiders.

Skye cleared them away and collapsed down, staring through the door out into the camp. Why am I here? He wondered. Why am I wanted? He had resolved that Aster was Eris's twin, with some minor differences. It was older, obviously, because of the overgrown bushes, it was less populated, and it had patches that had been cleared out, leaving the dry sand.

He saw some young fawns race by, giggling and chatting. Skye flicked his ears. This camp looks fun, he thought, but I'm so confused about what's happening.

Skye stood up and stepped from his cabin, making sure to scratch deep into the wood above the door. He looked around, trying to remember it so he'd find it later. When he saw a gold number 124, he knew instantly he didn't have to worry anymore.

He started to walk around. The bushes were draped over the roofs of the cabins, so he walked underneath them, in constant shade. It was very pleasant and pretty, really.

"Hey!" Skye jumped as a hyper looking greyhound raced over with his friends. He walked quickly beside Skye, pushing into the young tom.

"Hey," He said again, "Wanna help me and my mateys beat some of those other guys in a race?"

His panting was loud and raucous, and Skye didn't like it at all. "No thanks, sorry." He said.

"Ok." The greyhound ran off with his 'mateys.'

He watched them disappear into the shadows. It looked like creatures really did have fun here. Maybe this was some kind of summer camp.

"Don't mind them."

Skye jolted and turned around to see a young wolf resting against the roof of a cabin. Contrary to Selena, she was pretty, with a smooth white and grey flecked coat, deep sparkling brown eyes and an intelligent, intense face.

"They're always a bit…hyper." She said, jumping neatly from the roof and standing beside Skye. Her voice was calm and dreamy, making her seem laid-back.

"Who are you?" Skye asked the wolf blankly.

"I'm Alira." She said. "You?"

"Skye." He replied. His name would mean nothing here.

"Nice to meet you. Are you near here?"

"Yeah. I've been here about an hour now. I don't understand it."

"Let's see," She said, turning to look him full in the face. "You're foreign, maybe?"

"Yeah. I'm from Eris."

"Eris is…?" Alira looked confused.

"Um…another city…" For some reason, he felt he shouldn't tell Alira that there was another, twin world next to Aster.

"That would make sense," She said. "I don't know my cities well at all."

"Why are we here? I mean, at this camp?"

"I'm not quite sure," Alira said. "I was collected from my family to be taken here. They said they were needing ones for the breeding…"

"Breeding?" "They're having all the pure-bloods breed."

"Pure bloods are…?"

"Animals who have the same animal for each parent. So say you saw an eagle with a giraffe for a dad and a giraffe for a mom. It'd be a pure blood."

"Why would they want to breed purebloods?" Skye asked, confused.

"No idea," Alira said, then added, "I'm a pure blood. Why didn't you know this stuff?"

"My city was small…poor animals lived there." He shuffled his paws nervously.

"That makes sense. Here, I'll tell you more. A dirty-blood is someone who has parents completely different. Here's an example. Say there was a prarie dog whose mother was a hippo and whose father was a lion. Nobody's the same. Then there are the half bloods. They're really rare. It's when the child gets one of his parent's breeds. Example: A lion mated with a cow and the kid was a lion. See? The kid is just like one of their parents. Half-bloods are rare because it's hard to transfer breed-blood into offspring. If you're a pure blood though, it isn't hard at all to transfer breed-blood because both parents are of the same breed. And another thing about half-bloods is that they never have any siblings with the same two parents. Nobody has ever found out why. It's strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Skye said. "You know a lot about it."

Alira smiled. "I'm interested in science."

While Selena is interested in geography, Skye thought absently.

"Well anyway, nice meeting you, Skye," Alira said, giving him a slight smile. "Will you come to the patrol game with me tomorrow?" "Oh—uh—sure! Alright." He smiled back.

"Thanks." Alira scrambled into her cabin.

Skye watched her disappear then turned around, heading back to his own cabin. He searched until he saw the number 124 and as soon as his dark blue eyes rested upon the golden numerals he sighed with relief.

He had just settled down on the blue blanket when a yell echoed through the camp, voicing the word: 'dinner!' Skye scrambled to his feet and exited his cabin.

Lots of other animals were pouring from their cabins. Skye was washed up in a flow of creatures all heading toward the vacant spot beside the big cabin. Instead of it being empty, it now was covered in piles of carrots. Skye's tail curled up at the thought of eating the orange things. He didn't want to.

He found an empty pile and remembered he was supposed to eat the carrots. He didn't really enjoy the long orange things, so he just sat out instead of eating.


	9. Chapter 9: The Game

_**Chapter 9, The Game**_

The next morning Skye had to go with everybody else in the camp to the main cabin for a quick head count, to make sure everyone was there. After that it was free time for all. But Skye had remembered he had said he'd play the 'patrol game' with Alira. Even though he didn't know what that was, he padded over to her cabin and found her sitting on top of its roof.

She slid down to greet him when he arrived. "Hi, Skye." She said. "Ready to play the patrol game?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"It takes place at the empty space beside the main cabin," Alira informed, "You play with a ton of other creatures that are broken into two teams. The two teams wrestle each other until one team has taken all the other teams' prized possessions. But it's more organized then that. There's the two leaders of course, and they do everything they can. They protect wrestle, patrol and lead there team. Then there's the fighters, who openly go and attack the other team. Then there's the protectors, who stay at the teams prized possessions and guard them from the other team. Lastly there's the borderers, who patrol the borders and keep enemies out."

Skye looked up at her. "Alira…I can't fight."

"You can wrestle. They don't let anybody stun or draw blood, so it's pretty safe."

"Good."

They had reached the empty place beside the main cabin. But it was no longer empty. Now it was a forest with a large clearing in the middle, and orange and green lines painted on the ground to mark the borders.

"You can make this blank spot into a bunch of different, if you work here," Alira told him. "It's all controlled by some levers in the main cabin."

"Ok…" Skye was beginning to feel uneasy, realizing he would have to fight.

A lot of other animals had gathered, and when everybody was there, a German Shepherd leaped into a tree and yelled down to the others.

"Welcome to another match of the patrol game! First, I'd like everybody to choose teams! Green or orange!"

"Green," Alira said to Skye, "It's so much prettier. Come on, over here is where the greens gather."

She dragged him over to a bunch of other animals that all smiled, but for some reason they seemed intimidating to Skye.

"Next, raise your paw if you want to be leader, count up the contestants then vote for your favorite! The one with the most votes will be leader!"

Skye was beginning to feel confused. Around him, some of the animals were raising a paw. Alira glanced around then warily raised her own.

Somebody counted them all up then listed their names in order.

"If you want Gem to be team leader, raise a paw!" He said.

Three people voted.

"If you'd like Mesetar to be leader, raise a paw!"

Seven votes.

It went on and on until finally,

"If you'd like Alira to be leader, raise a paw!"

Seventeen votes. Skye was one of them, but he wasn't quite sure what he was voting for.

"Alright!" Said the one who had been speaking, "Alira is the leader!"

She was grinning as Skye looked over at her.

The German Shepherd in the tree went on. "Now choose your own personal position in the game!"

Skye looked at Alira desperately, heart pounding.

"Be a borderer," She said dismissively, "It's easy."

Now the teams were heading to the forest. Skye fought panic. "Alira-," he began, but she was already walking away to talk to some teammates.

I can't do this! Skye thought, I don't know the rules! He turned around, deciding to leave the game and go back to his cabin.

"Where you going, kid?" It was somebody from his team and they stopped him. "Stop chickening out! Come on!"

Skye was bustled back into the crowd. His eyes were wide and his heart hammered. He couldn't do this.

They were in the forest then. It was too late. Skye had to play. Fear washed over him in waves. The animals were taking positions in the game. Some went and stood beside a big pile of fresh carrots.

Prized possessions? Skye wondered. He saw some other animals spreading out by the green border. He guessed he should be doing that too and headed over to the border, slinking behind some trees.

Suddenly, he didn't know what to do if he was attacked. His heart hammered with panic.

A whistle blew. The game had begun.

"Wait!" Skye screamed desperately, "What do I do if—," He was drowned instantly. Screams and yells had erupted. Ahead of him, in the clearing, the animals were wrestling and running foreword.

Skye panted and looked around at the fellow borderers. Some were watching the game, while also scouting the forest around them. Skye pretended to do that too, but he wasn't sure what he was looking for.

The game ticked on tediously. Some of Skye's fear had left him, and boredom was creeping in.

Then suddenly, through the trees beside him, so fighters from the orange team were sneaking up. They slunk nearer to the border.

I'm supposed to keep them away! Skye realized. He was afraid to. He turned away and acted like he couldn't see him.

The orange teamers crossed the borders and prowled into the clearing. The pile of prized possessions, or carrots, was unguarded, because the guards were wrestling other orange guys.

The orange guys who had crossed the border approached the carrots and started taking as many as they could, stuffing them into their jaws and clamping them under their tails.

Skye's heart hammered. He had to warn somebody—they were making his team lose!

But the stealers were already racing back across the border- into their own team's territory. A cheer sounded form the orange guys, but the green team's boo was so loud the ground shook.

Skye's ears burned. He should have stopped the stealers from getting the carrots.

The game went on and on. Hours passed. Skye was so bored he began to doze against a tree. He could see Alira ahead, charging and fighting and protecting. Being the best leader. The game was probably flying by to her. Skye yawned widely. When was he going to get out of here? He was getting a bit hungry too.

Suddenly, his absent thoughts were knocked from him as some leopards from the orange team sprang on him, knocking him over and holding him there. Skye looked up and realized he was trapped.


	10. Chapter 10: Surprise Wounds

_**Chapter 10, Surprise Wounds**_

"Listen," One of the leopards that had trapped him growled, "We're going to go take all your carrots, and you need to stay mighty hush about it, ok? Or we'll hurt you bad."

Skye stared at them with wide, fearful eyes.

"Keep him in check, Dayson," Said the leopards. They all dashed off, leaving Skye with only two of them.

One of the leopards leered in his face. "You're scrawny, midget." He sneered.

The other leaned in at him. "You're ugly," He said. Then he gave Skye a hard slash on the face. His blood oozed out.

Skye struggled as pain lit up his cheek. The leopards were strong though, and held him there.

They continued to torment him, scratching and biting until he was shaking with pain and exhaustion.

"You die tonight," One hissed.

Finally it became too much. Skye rocketed upward as hard as he could, even though his muscles shook with the effort. The leopards rolled from him and lay dazed for a second on the ground. Skye saw his chance and bolted across the ground, away from them. The leopards took quick pursuit, and Skye felt terror course though his body.

He rolled into the clearing and fell hard.

"HELP! HELP!" He screamed as quickly as he could.

The leopards thundered down on top of him. Their hard claws slashed his face and their teeth sunk into his limbs.

Then they were torn from him. Skye looked up to see Alira battling one hard. Both stood on their hind legs. Claws and teeth flashed like fire. Alira's brown eyes blazed. They moved like lightening.

Blood rained from the two and peppered Skye's body. He was weak and numb with pain and shock, but still he watched the ferocious battle above him.

Finally, Alira made a dive and sunk her fangs into the leopard as hard as she could. As the wolf drove him into the ground, her lips relaxed and covered her teeth again. She stepped away from the stunned leopard and staggered to Skye.

"I'm sorry, Skye." She muttered.

"For what?" He rasped.

"Dragging you into the game." She looked up, then sat down slowly. The orange team was cheering. They'd won.

"Darn." Alira muttered. "My first time leader and I lost."

Skye looked at her then he stood up. "Don't think about it. We tried hard. Are you hurt bad?" "Not much. I'm smaller then the average leopard, so I can move faster, giving me more of an advantage against their claws. Come on. I don't want to watch the orange team celebrate."

Skye stood up and followed Alira out of the little forest. The green team, bruised and tired, were heading back to the cabins. Skye stopped beside Alira.

"See you," he said, smiling.

"You too." She smiled back, a slight smile like always, then the two broke apart and headed back to their cabins.

XXX

The weeks spun by until Skye had been at the camp for a moon. He had come to like the camp, and was accustomed to what happened there. He headed to dinner one night, remembering he was to eat with Alira. Raising his head, he scanned the entire area for her, but did not spot the young, small white wolf.

He waited for a long time as the sun slowly set. Most everybody was finishing up by the time Skye saw Alira race over. She skidded to a halt beside him.

"Skye!" She gasped. "I'm sorry I'm late." She reached for some carrots and hurriedly started stuffing them into her mouth.

Skye, who hadn't touched the carrots yet, watched her eat. "Where were you?" She asked.

She didn't answer and acted like she hadn't heard him. "Bed now, I guess." She said, swallowing hard. "Everyone else is done eating. Come!"

"Yeah." He muttered. He followed her away from the dinner place, then stopped, mind reeling. "The moon!" He rasped. It hit him. Suddenly he realized he'd forgotten about the big moon. It had stopped rising! He didn't see it when he was on Aster.

Alira separated him soon and he took his own route back to his cabin.

Inside it he turned over and thrashed on the blankets, trying to get comfortable. He couldn't get the image of the moon thundering toward Eris out of his mind. It was like the moon had turned into Aster….

"Interesting mirage." He muttered, then fell asleep.

Skye was awoken later that night by whispering from out of his cabin. He rolled over and saw a bunch of German Shepherd marching by, harboring guns over their shoulders. The darkness made them hard to see though, so Skye didn't press to find out what they were doing.

They soon passed by, leaving things quiet again.

Then there was a strange sound. Like someone gasping for breath, someone hurt. Skye shot to his feet and slunk from the cabin. Somebody was coming out of the shadows, dragging their hind legs on the ground. It came right up to Skye and stopped.

"Skye…"

Her fur was spiked up with dark blood and the holes on her side oozed red. She was broken and hurt. Dying.

It was Selena.


	11. Chapter 11: The Mass Killing

Skye stared at Selena, mind reeling in shock and fear. And he was confused, too. How had Selena gotten here? How had she become onto Aster?

"Skye…" She rasped again. Both her flanks were peppered in small, bullet-sized holes, and they were obviously deep, gaping things.

At that moment Selena's front legs collapsed and she lay, unconscious on the asphalt. Skye sat in front of her, desperately wondering what to do. The sun was just rising, and then everyone would see Selena. His flank itched with nervousness.

When finally the whole sky was alight with golden light, Skye stood up. He looked around. Instantly, a loud call sounded from the main cabin.

"ALL REPORT TO MAIN CABIN FOR HEAD COUNT! ALL REPORT TO MAIN CABIN FOR HEAD COUNT!"

The animals started moving from their cabins. Skye looked down at Selena and thought of being head counted. He thought of the patrol game that had become so totally messed up. He thought of Eris and his father and the bombings. He didn't want to be here. It wasn't right for him. Aster was different, though Eris's twin. He didn't like it. Kneeling down, he grabbed Selena's scruff and started to yank her into the nearest bushes, heart pounding with urgency.

He had barely dragged her into the dark, green things, when somebody stopped in front of him.

It was Alira.

"What're you doing, Skye?" She asked, "Are you coming?"

He nodded, heart pounding. "In a second. I got something in my foot…hurts like heck."

"Alright." She gave him one of her enchanting, slight smiles. "See you soon."

He watched her pad off, numb with shock.

"Goodbye, Alira." He muttered. "I'll miss you."

He continued to drag Selena deeper into the bushes, but he saw one of the German Shepherds padding closer.

Desperately he flattened himself to the ground, trying not to be seen.

He didn't succeed.

The dog headed over, a gun tied with rope to his back.

"Hey, camper!" He shouted gruffly as he approached, "Why aren't you going for the head count?"

"I—have something in my foot!" He called desperately, acting like he was licking his foot.

The German Shepherd stopped in front of him. "The foot can wait. Go to the head count."

"But…I can't uh…walk!"

The golden and black dog scrutinized the young cat. "Trying to get out of camp?" He growled, "Sneaking away?" He shot foreword, teeth bared. "It's not going to work, young tom. Come along. NOW!"

Quickly Skye looked back at Selena, pushed under the bushes. He didn't want to loose the place she was at, so he reached down and kicked his leg into the bloody holes on her side. He wiped the blood onto the leaves, so he'd be able to see it later.

"Come ON!" The dog snarled. He kept his tail behind Skye, and hit him with it whenever he slowed down.

Skye's heart pounded as he walked. He didn't know where he was going. It sure wasn't the main cabin. In fact, they seemed to be leaving the shady camp. Soon, they had left the cabins behind.

"Sir--?" Skye began.

"Silence!" The German Shepherd hissed. "Just walk quickly."

Across the parched asphalt they went. Skye noticed the red pavement was different then what was on Eris's, lighter, from the sun, and with endless cracks. And of course, there were the dreadfully overgrown bushes.

There was something ahead, and Skye squinted in the blinding sunlight. It seemed like a huge wall had been planted in a square shape ahead, reaching up to the sky for yards. And the walls were long too, each stretching about twenty yards foreword. Dust rose from inside it.

"Walk faster," Snarled the dog, "We may be late."

Skye sped up nervously, heart pounding. Soon they were standing beside the great, stone enclosure.

The German Shepherd walked around it until he found a small crack in the wall and slipped through.

Skye gasped as he entered. The ground was the familiar parched sand, like one of those cleared places, but this had walls bordering it. On one side was a whole army of German Shepherds, almost one hundred of them. On the other side a few Eris/Aster citizens mingled absently around.

"Go over there with those animals," The German Shepherd barked at him. Obediently, Skye stumbled over to them and sat down against the wall. Even it was hot. The dust that rose from the parched ground stung his eyes, so he closed them.

More Eris/Aster animals came until there was as many of them as there were German Shepherds. Then the crack in the wall was sealed.

A German Shepherd strutted foreword in front of the other dogs. Skye realized they all held a gun under one paw.

The strutting German Shepherd started to speak. It was quiet, so Skye had trouble hearing him.

His last word must have been a signal, for all the dogs raised there guns, placing them against their shoulders. One paw went up on the trigger.

"ONE, TWO, THREE!"

The dogs started to shoot. Skye felt a scream arise in his throat. He started to scramble. He was way back, protected by the other animals. Everyone was running and screaming and falling. Skye was panting and wondering what on earth was happening.

A zebra nearly trampled him as it ran over, screaming in terror. Skye bolted to his feet and pressed hard against the wall. A young deer beside him fell to the ground with a crack. Three tiny holes glowed red on her side.

The deer wasn't the only one. Lots of animals were falling as bullets rained into their sides. Skye's terror welled up in him and he made a wild dash over an eagle. Five bullets whizzed by his ear, one of them making a large hole.

He crashed to the ground, skidding across the now bloody sand. He lay in a heap of scruffy fur, struggling to get up. A small bear fell onto of him. Skye realized he was trapped with a growl.

Blood from the bear oozed onto his pelt and the smell of phlegm filled his nostrils. Yanking himself away before he suffocated, Skye managed to get free. He looked over. The German Shepherds were still shooting.

He was afraid. He started to run, scrabbling at the walls and scratching at the ground in desperation as his fellows fell around him. Some of them played dead too, falling to the ground. But their wildly beating hearts could be seen from even the dogs on the other side, and they too were slaughtered.

Skye breath was ragged and breathed in dust. He fell to the ground to avoid and string of bullets, heart pounding. A horse stepped on him, cracking his bone. He screamed in pain at the awful crunch.

A bullet came, hitting him in the shoulder. He rolled over, numb with shock and pain. Sounds died slowly away. Another bullet went into his belly with a rage of pain. Another hit his thigh.

He rolled his head to face the sky and saw the brilliant blue with only one puffy little cloud silhouetted by a burning, seething yellow sun. He was blank as he stared on it, because he could no longer hear and his sight was bad.

Everyone was falling, barely a half dozen remained standing. Skye's muscles twitched as he tried to stand.

A bullet came and went right into his chest with the shattering of ribs. He screamed, and even he couldn't hear it. He felt pain rush down on him like fiery spears and he let out a wail of terror.

XXX

Somebody appeared in his vision, blocking his view of the sun. Their mouth moved, but he couldn't hear. Then he was scooped up, dragged across the gross, bloody dirt and into a tiny hole at a corner of the wall. Skye limply watched as he was pushed into this hole. He slid down it numbly, not caring what happened to him. Somebody else followed him into the tunnel, pushing him along. They were talking to him slightly, and Skye realized he could hear again.

Along the tunnel they went, until it stopped. Skye summoned the strength to turn and look at what he had bumped into, and saw a small, dusty wooden door well set into the dirt walls, with a large lock and keyhole.

Skye's savior-he hadn't fully looked at him yet- blew dusty from the keyhole. As he tried to force a rusty, iron key into the hole, Skye looked around, wondering why this place was lighted, and saw one small torch flickering near the round trap-like door.

The other animal turned the key and the door clicked open, swinging into a pitch black room that was cold and smelled musty. Skye looked around, trying to get his eyes to adjust. His savior was locking the door behind them.

He was taken from this room through another locked, round wooden door. The next place was a long tunnel leading to someplace that had another torch.

It was a low, round room carved into the very dirt. Skye stepped into the light (shadows hovered at the opposite side of the room, for there was only one torch.) He stared around at the room. Some roots poked from the roof and on the other side of the room was a pile of carrots leaves, forming some kind of bed.

"Where am I?" Skye asked, looking around for his savior, who had strode over to the torch and was fiddling with the torch.

"You're safe," Said the other guy in a voice that was strong and good. "I'll tell you more soon. Now it is not safe, for we may be followed." He turned to Skye. "My name is Kuii. Come."

Skye followed Kuii along, out of the round room. He wondered how anybody could go through life named Kuii.

As Kuii unlocked the next door, Skye listened. He could here quiet voices in the next room. The door swung open, revealing a room identical to the last.

Skye stepped in. There were others in here, there eyes reflected by the one-torch light.

As Skye stood staring, someone got up from a lying down position and slowly limped over.

Skye stared at an orange face with black tear streak lines and warm amber eyes. The top of its head was wrapped in a large bandage.

"Hello, Skye," He said, smiling.

Skye stared. "Robin? W-what are you doing here?"

**That's that. Also, I know nobody except the wonderful, kind great, nice, faithful Steeltalon and Sparrowflight have been reviewing my story. I actually don't care about all the rest of you, because I like the story and I'm going to keep writing it, no matter if people are reading or not. I sincerely don't care if I have readers, but I'd like it if you're reading to please review, because this series and my writing is kinda the whole point of my life right now so it kinda turns me off when people don't review. AND (this is two my friends outside of fanfiction I gave this story too, I'm sure you know who you are) You can review too, by pressing the little violet button by the submit review drop down bar. That'd rock, pals. I do accept anonymous reviews.**

**Plushies and a sneak peak upon request to Steeltalon and Sparrowflight! :) You guys rock.**


	12. Chapter 12: Settling In

_**Chapter 12, Settling In**_

Robin opened his mouth but Kuii interrupted. "Not now. Robin, is Natasha back?"

Robin glanced around. "Not yet."

"What's going on?" Skye demanded loudly, "Where am I?"

Kuii turned to look at him, and Skye realized, like Robin, he also was a cheetah, just a tad smaller with bigger muscles, a sturdy build, an intense face and dark brown eyes.

"As I said before, you are safe. You are in the hideout of the Kushanis. I am the leader of the Kushanis. We are a group of rescuers. We take hurt animals off Aster and put them here, in out hideout. If they were wounded, like your father, we heal them.

"There are many here?" Skye asked.

"No. Just your father and you, now." Kuii said, "Natasha should be home soon. We haven't been around long. We decided we needed to help after the Kinetics started bombing and taking over."

"Who are the Kinetics?" Skye asked quickly, excitement rising.

"They're the German Shepherds. They decided to take over Aster. They basically have. The other side of Aster is uninhabited. Everyone was killed."

"What?"

Kuii shook his head. "While they finish up with Aster, they're moving to Eris. They've been bombing it. You probably don't know what Eris is."

"I'm from Eris," Skye said.

"My apologies. So you must be unfamiliar with Aster. Aster is Eris's identical twin. They used to look exactly the same, until the Kinetics started to mass kill off Aster. Then, of course, nobody took care of it anymore, because there was nobody to do so."

"Stop," Skye said, "How come I never saw Aster from Eris?"  "You always did," Kuii said, "Aster is the large moon you see every night."

Skye's heart stopped. This awful place was the moon he loved?  "The big nearly the size of Eris, right? It is only looks a little smaller because of the thirty miles between it and Eris. And it doesn't look auburn because of the atmospheric colors distort it."

Skye stared. "So…all the time I saw that big, lovely moon, it was actually this awful Aster place?"

"Yes," Kuii said, "But Aster has only been awful since recent times. It used to be pretty and nice, like Eris. Those big empty places you see are shooting camps-killing camps that are unfinished. When they are done there will be large walls bordering them, like the place where you went."

"And who are the Kinetics?"

"They're police forces from Aster. The police forces on Eris are greyhounds, right? Those greyhounds are called the Kanetics. Kinetics are trying to take over everything. Our goal as the Kushanis is to stop them from them from doing just that. We fight them. We kill them silently. We work hard to eliminate them. But there are only three of us against one thousand. We may never succeed, but we can try. We have already deducted their population by thirty."

Skye's tail thickened. "You've killed thirty Kinetics?"

Kuii nodded. "We have. Now, you are wounded from the bullets. Lie down on the bed until Natasha gets back. She will help you. I will be in the other room cleaning our…uh…weapons." With a small leap, he went through the door, locking it with a click after him.

Skye, whose head was still spinning about the Aster-moon thing, padded to the back of room where Robin was lying.

"So…how did you get on Aster?" Skye asked, forcing him to answer. "How come the bullets didn't kill you back on Eris?"

"When I fell I left my body almost instantly," Robin said. "It's a certain life skill that runs in my father's family. So when the Kinetics peppered me with bullets, I was long gone. When I came to my body again though, I was in pain. About how I got here? I was sucked onto Aster like everyone else. I was grievously injured of course, and Kuii found me. Part of the Kushanis job is to find those that are injured. They found you because I told them about you. I said you were probably here, at the nearest killing camp. Kuii ran to get you. He was almost too late, obviously. He would have liked to take all the animals that were being shot, but most wouldn't fit down the tunnel and they wouldn't fit in these rooms."

Skye looked at him. "How did you know I was here?"  Robin turned to run his teeth along a long line of stitches on his side. "I saw you at the camp while I lay there half-dead. Then Kuii came."

"Yes!" Skye said, "What is that camp for?"

"It's an easy way of rounding up the citizens," Robin said, "That's what Kuii told me. And the Kinetics make it seem like its some fun summer camp, with all those activities."  "It is a bit fun," Skye agreed. "Robin, I met this one cat back on Eris…I mean, we're not friends or anything. Actually, we're not really on good terms. But I saw her just last night and she was covered in blood and bullets holes. She's back at the camp, in the bushes. Could Kuii maybe…go and get her?"

Robin sat up. "Go ask him."

"Alright." Skye said. He headed to the door again, but found it locked. "I have no key." He said.

"Better wait then," Robin said, "Kuii said that it is essential that all the doors stay locked, incase the Kinetics find us."

Skye sat down again and as he did the pains from his bullet wounds pierced him. He gasped and snapped his head to the shoulder one, licking it. The flesh was raw and painful, bits of torn skin hanging around the wound.

"Natasha can put bandages on that," Robin said.

"Who is-," Skye began but as he did, a door that was half sunken in sand opened and a cheetah padded in.

Skye looked up, expecting it to be Kuii, but it obviously wasn't, with a darker orange fur, so dark it was almost brown, and very pale amber eyes. She stopped at the door and looked back.

"Come on, Joseph," She said. Her voice was soft and gentle, and as she spoke, a tiny cheetah cub tottered over the threshold and tumbled into the room.

At that moment Kuii walked through the other door. He stopped when he saw the female cheetah and her cub.

"Skye, this is Natasha, my mate," he said, "And my son, Joseph."

The tiny cub squealed and pounced on Kuii's tail. He was like a tiny, fuzzy little ball of pale orange fur and miniscule black spots. He turned to Skye and stared, unblinking with bright yellow eyes.

"So many cheetahs," Skye said as his silver and large black spotted fur ruffled. He felt like the odd one out, long-haired and blue-eyed, even if he was the size of an adolescent cheetah.

"Joseph is pure bred, obviously," Kuii said in his serious voice. Skye shook his fur out.

"Not a very good thing, though," Natasha said calmly, giving her son a small lick.

"Why not?" Skye asked.

"Pure bloods are wanted. They're being herded out of the rest of the citizens. The Kinetics think this world is being over run be dirty-bloods. Eris, too."

"Are you a pure-blood?" Skye asked.

"I am," Kuii said, "So are my parents. Natasha is too. We come from long liens of pure bred cheetahs, unfortunately."

"Why is that unfortunate?"  "Because we're wanted. We have to work harder to hide. At least we aren't half-bloods. They're_ really_ wanted."

Robin coughed slightly.

Kuii looked over at him. "What's your blood, Robin?"

He shrugged. "Dirty." He glanced around. "This didn't use to matter when I was…younger."

"It's a Kinetic thing," Natasha explained. Joseph gave a squeal as she tried to lick his belly, and she nipped his ear. "The Kanetics—Eris policemen-don't think it matters. The blood segregation has been on Aster for ages."

"It just matters more now as the Kinetics take over," Kuii put in grimly. "Now, Skye has a lot of bullet holes. Natasha, could you put the bandages on?"

"Sure, but what are you going to do?" She asked, looking up at him.

Kuii flicked his ears. "I'm going to…" he trailed away, looking intently at Natasha.

She jerked her head. "Oh, that. Alright."

He nodded and turned to leave the room.

"Wait!" Skye called after him, "I have a friend who was shot, back up on the land, by the camp! She's hurt, could you…get her?" His voice faltered and became puny at the last two words.

Kuii twitched his tail. "Yes, I think I could do that." He turned and left the room now. Skye moved to Natasha.

She reached underneath a pile of leaves and polled out some silk bandages. "These are silk," She said, "So be careful and give them back when you're done. The silkworms are almost extinct on Aster."

She examined the holes on his chest carefully, then slowly began wrapping the silk around and around his chest until it was tight and firm.

"Don't take these off unless I say so, because the wounds might be infected."

He nodded helplessly. She turned and wrapped it around his leg then, right up at the shoulder. Then she got the one on his hind leg.

"There you go," She said. "I have to go talk to Kuii. Keep Joseph in your eyesight." The dark cheetah turned and leaped through the door. As she disappeared, Skye noticed a silver key hanging from her neck.

Skye sat down. "I hope Kuii's getting Selena," he muttered. There was no answer, and Skye looked over to see Robin snoozing.

Joseph was rolling on the floor happily, purring loudly. He stopped on his back, tipped his head back and saw Skye. He opened his mouth.

Skye stared at him then flumped down on the soft ground. He heard a strange rumbling from the ground above him and wondered dimly what it was…


End file.
